Trading the parched open spaces of The Dry for the wet, dense and almost claustrophobic environment found deep in the Victorian mountains helps to redefine the story here. It revolves around a group of women who are on a company hiking retreat when things spiral dramatically out of control. There is also a back story that one of the female participants is a whistle-blower helping the Feds.

The new storyline is intertwined with scenes that put a focus on the events that made Falk the agent that he became and goes some way to explain his obsessive nature in this case. Connolly uses a slow burn approach and it puts the cast’s acting chops under the microscope as opposed to relying on action set pieces. Some might bemoan the lack of activity but that is misguided.

This is a human tale that builds suspense from subtlety and nuance. As the title suggests the power of Mother Nature is ever present and adds to the building of tension. Filing this under the “best-laid plans” as its original release date was postponed out of solidarity with those affected by the Writer Strike taking place in the US. Regardless of the delay, the finished results are more than worth the wait.
Rob Hudson
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Force of Nature: The Dry 2 is directed by Robert Connolly and stars Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor, Richard Roxburgh, Tony Briggs and Kenneth Radley.

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 is coming to Australian cinemas on August 24, 2023.
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The film is based on the bestselling novel by Jane Harper with Eric Bana reprising his character, Aaron Falk. Robert Connolly returns to direct the movie.

Bana is joined by cast members Anna Torv (The Last of Us), Deborra-lee Furness (Jindabyne), Robin McLeavy (Homeland), Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat), Lucy Ansell (Utopia), and Jacqueline McKenzie (Romper Stomper).

Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor is back in the role of Erik Falk, alongside Richard Roxburgh (Rake), Tony Briggs (Cleverman) and Kenneth Radley (The Power of the Dog).

Produced by Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky of Made Up Stories, alongside Eric Bana for Pick Up Truck Pictures and Robert Connolly for Arenamedia. Ricci Swart, Meryl Metni, Andrew Myer, Robert Patterson, Andrew Bassat, Joanna Baevski, Hayley Baillie, James Baillie, and Roadshow Films’ Joel Pearlman and Edwina Waddy are executive producing.

In ‘Force of Nature: The Dry 2’, when five women take part in a corporate hiking retreat and only four come out on the other side, Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper head deep into the Victorian mountain ranges to investigate in the hopes of finding their whistle-blowing informant, Alice Russell, alive.

Joel Pearlman, CEO Roadshow Films said, “We are delighted to announce that ‘Force of Nature: The Dry 2’ will come to cinemas this year. We know that audiences are going to embrace this film as much as they did with ‘The Dry’, and we can’t wait for them to see it on the big screen.”

Producers Papandrea, Matterson and Hutensky said: “After watching audiences fall in love with The Dry, we’re so excited to bring this next instalment in Jane Harper’s thrilling Aaron Falk series, ‘Force of Nature: The Dry 2’, to big screens across Australia alongside Roadshow Films. Audiences are going to be blown away by the tour de force performances of Eric Bana and this assemble of terrific Australian actresses”.

Director Robert Connolly said, “Adapting Jane Harper’s remarkable ‘Force of Nature’ for the cinema has been an exciting adventure, a rare privilege to be able to revisit the world of detective Aaron Falk and to work again with Eric, an extraordinary supporting cast and a wonderful team of creatives and crew. Jane’s novels evoke the often-terrifying beauty of the natural world, and in this sequel to ‘The Dry’ we take audiences into a new landscape to solve entwining crimes in the remote Australian wilderness.”

‘Force of Nature: The Dry 2’ received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen.
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